The BC Wildlife Federation and its partners have been busy as Canada’s national animal this year, helping create new habitat to restore beaver populations and watersheds.
The federation’s 10,000 Wetlands Project aims to restore crucial freshwater habitat around the province by building artificial beaver dams. One of the projects is near Gold River on the Island and was built with help from Ducks Unlimited.
Inspired by a similar project in Oregon, teams have been building beaver dam analogues out of sticks, trees, and mud in strategic locations. The dams create year-round wetlands, and also encourage beaver populations to grow. They slow and store water, providing critical habitat for salmon and trout species.
This year they built 71 dams, and identified 30 more sites for future restoration work.
